Beukey on Pop Culture

This blog will focus on pop culture, with an emphasis on views outside, overlooked, or ignored by the mainstream. I may veer off-topic. We are all grown-ups, so don't act shocked at occasional bad language. This blog is not the place for those of you who stood in line to see "The Lake House".

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Elitism and 30 Rock


30 Rock is the funniest show on television. After a bunch of episodes to begin the season that attempted to boost ratings by cramming pointless guest stars down our throat, it seems to have righted itself. I can't think of a comedian who is more the polar opposite of Tina Fey than Jennifer Anniston. Is there some type of fan overlap there that I am unaware of? Do people that like the sophisticated scripts of 30 Rock also go to see movies where dog farts are considered the height of hilarity, and big-nosed Owen Wilson plays a grade Z imitation of a Bill Murray character for the umpteenth time? America, you could have killed the movie careers of Wilson and Anniston if you stayed away from that steaming pile. Instead, the opening box office ensures they will open a lot of crappy movies of the next four years. Woof!


I liked the last episode, even though it had a time-wasting zombie montage. The episode picked up on a subtle theme on the show, and one that I hope they will explore in more detail. The theme is this: Why does the character that Tina Fey plays (Liz Lemon) seem ashamed of her successful career, and why does she seek to identify herself with workers who are in an economic strata that is beneath hers?


In the last episode, Liz was planning an expensive vacation. As a valued member of the show's staff, she was offered the opportunity to get a flu shot that was not available to all the workers on the show. She was aghast that health care was being rationed, and made a big, vocal deal in front of the lower-paid crew workers about not getting the shot, even though she later go it in secret and went around feeling guilty about it.


I get the point about health care not being rationed or given out based on your salary; such a system would be shameful. What I find far more interesting is why Liz (or people in real-life) feel the need to apologize for their success, even to the point that they pledge fealty to a lifestyle they left behind a long time ago. I'm not saying that people automatically change when they make more money, but it's pretty ridiculous when someone that makes $80,000 a year goes out of their way to act like they are in the same economic situation as someone who makes $20,000 a year.
Liz (who, in one of my favorite jokes on the show, comes from White Haven, Pennsylvania) has turned down a promotion, and other opportunities to move into higher social circles that have been extended by her boss. She seems rooted in some type of middle-class mindset where she feels she should not rise above her current station.
As a counterpoint to this, there is the character of Tracy. In early episodes, it was established that Tracy grew up in poverty. But now the character is successful, and has no compunction about living it up, even to the point of burning through lots of cash and needing to develop new revenue streams to support his lifestyle.
I certainly don't think people need to be obnoxious about their wealth, and there are no limits to the TV shows, movies, etc., that seek to deflate snooty rich characters (of course, these shows are written, acted, and directed by millionaires, so the public is making people rich by paying them to make fun of the rich). But I think it's worth exploring why people seek to tie their identity to a lower-economic lifestyle that they are not a part of, and why they think that doing so is "keeping them real". There's nothing "real" about it.
Oh yeah, about the picture, couldn't do a Tina Fey post without a little eye candy.


2 Comments:

  • At 12:27 PM, Blogger K. Buchanan Shay said…

    That would be interesting to find out why she, as a Caucasian, would do that. Now as for people in other races, I read an unsettling article a few years ago in Time about how much ridicule and disdain black Americans face from people in their own race when they make great achievements in school, work, etc, and get pressured to stay "down with the cause" so to speak, and not be an "Uncle Tom". You would think these people would be encouraging and proud!

     
  • At 6:55 PM, Blogger David said…

    tina fey = "eye" candy - ha ha

     

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